Denison Genealogy

Membership in the Denison Society is for all descendants of William Denison, father of Daniel, Edward and George.

(“Friends of the Denison Homestead” do not have to be Denison descendants.)

Joanne Langdon is our volunteer genealogist.

A message from Joanne Langdon, Volunteer Genealogist

“Genealogy has been the life-blood of the Society. It connects us to one another across the country as well as connecting us to a piece of American history.

There have been some wonderful stories that have come to us as part of our communal heritage – some have been very interesting and some have been very funny. There are accounts in our archives of members who have produced books and pamphlets on their families. One lady correlated favorite recipes with the women in her book. You may want to share your stories or some of your search “stone walls” for these pages. We welcome them.

We have depended on our connections with past generations as a base to claim a membership in the Denison Society. We rely on family connections today and it is amazing how we are spread all over the country. Many of us are eager to reach out to those who belong to us, even though we do not yet know them. In fact, there may be enough Denisons in your area for a regional reunion. Connecticut to California is a long way.”

The first step for potential members is to fill out the application provided on-line, Denison Society Application for Descendants, giving us all the data required by the application OR give us what you know and let us see what we can do to help you. We would want you to supply copies of as many proofs as possible, such as birth, death and marriage certificates, bible records, census records, and even letters or first hand accounts from your family. Pictures would be wonderful.

We have recently had an applicant who gave us his name, his father’s name and his grandfather’s name. For all the searching, no connection could be found. Thanks to email and phones, it was easy to contact this person. The upshot was that his father was a member but apparently among those who became members between 1970-something and today. (Our database of applications is not completely updated yet and we are working on it.) It turned out that eventually we found his Uncle’s membership application and can proceed appropriately.

Another example of what we can do is shown by the following: A woman who wants to apply for membership has just found her recently deceased mother’s papers on their genealogy. She initially wondered if we might find a certain George A. Denison as a descendant of the Captain George line. Her George A. was from the New Haven area. There is another Denison line from that area which has no connection to Captain George that we can find. Long story short, we found her George in the 1963 Genealogy but he was plain “GEORGE” — no initial A. There are dozens of Georges in the index, so that wasn’t a short piece of work.

We do have a few resources on hand that help us know whether or not some one fits our Denison line. Lots of Dennisons do fit. Many names have been changed by town and county clerks, unerringly. Unconnected Denison lines have been found throughout the United States and Canada and we have not been able to verify their origins. Denisons who arrived from Ireland in the 1800’s may be descendants of the grandfather of our three Denison brothers.

What I want to leave with you for now is that we are a resource willing to be of service. We are not professional genealogists so we won’t promise miracles, but we do promise to help within our limits. Try us out!

We currently have 930 memberships( descendants) encompassing 1,170 individuals spread world wide. When you join the Denison Society, you must include the Denison Society Descendant Application listed above.

What’s Happening?

Please call 860-536-9248 for more information about upcoming events!

MARCH 28, 2015 - 3:00 pm
LIFE OF A CIVIL WAR SOLDIER
Insights on reenacting, including battle attire, poems and correspondence.

APRIL 26, 2015 - 3:00pm
THE CIVIL WAR SEARCH FOR A NEW NATIONAL ANTHEM
At La Grua Center, 32 Water Street, Stonington

MAY 14, 2015 - 7:00pm
CONNECTICUT AND THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM
Hear stories of the more than 200 Connecticut men who died during the bloodiest day of the Civil War.